Top 10 news stories on China-ASEAN cooperation 2025 unveiled
President Xi Jinping Chooses Southeast Asia for First Overseas Visit of 2025
From April 14 to 18, 2025, Chinese President Xi Jinping conducted state visits to Vietnam, Malaysia, and Cambodia.
China and Vietnam are socialist neighbors linked by mountains and rivers, and the China-Vietnam community with a shared future carries strategic significance. The two countries have learned from and supported each other while exploring socialist paths suited to their respective national conditions. Their cooperation has demonstrated the vitality and promise of the socialist system to the world. China stands ready to work with Vietnam to draw up a new blueprint for the China-Vietnam community with a shared future in the new era.
China and Malaysia have been committed to mutual respect, equal treatment, and win-win cooperation, setting a good example of state-to-state relations. Deepening high-level strategic cooperation between the two countries, both major developing countries and members of the Global South, serves their common interests and contributes to peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and beyond. China is ready to work with Malaysia to enhance cooperation in modernization, promote mutual learning among civilizations, advance the China-Malaysia community with a shared future to new heights, and welcome a new "Golden 50 Years" for China-Malaysia relations.
China and Cambodia took the lead in building a bilateral community with a shared future and pioneered cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative. The two sides have supported each other in safeguarding national stability and promoting development and prosperity and have worked in unity to uphold international fairness and justice. Their cooperation has set an example for a new type of international relations and contributed to efforts to build a community with a shared future for humanity.
China is ready to work with Cambodia to continuously enrich the Diamond Hexagon cooperation framework, deepen strategic coordination, bring greater benefits to the two peoples, and inject more positive energy into peace and stability in the region and beyond.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang Attends the 28th China-ASEAN Summit
On October 28, 2025, Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended the 28th China-ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Premier Li suggested that as the international landscape undergoes new developments, China and ASEAN should maintain unity and self-reliance. Both sides must defend legitimate rights and interests through mutual support and coordinated action, remove external disturbances, and promote steady and sound economic growth by leveraging complementary strengths and deepening cooperation, he added. China seeks to work with ASEAN countries to build greater synergy, advance the Plan of Action to Implement the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2026-2030), and continue advancing construction of a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future. To this end, Premier Li underscored three priorities: consolidating strategic mutual trust, promoting deeper convergence of interests, and forging stronger people-to-people bonds.
China and ASEAN Release Plan of Action to Implement the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2026-2030)
On August 29, 2025, China and ASEAN officially released the Plan of Action to Implement the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2026-2030), a key programmatic document formulated against the backdrop of continued deepening of the China-ASEAN Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
The Plan of Action sets out cooperation priorities and concrete measures for the next five years across major areas including political and security affairs, trade and investment, connectivity, digital and green development, and people-to-people exchange. It aims to consolidate strategic mutual trust, enhance the quality and effectiveness of practical cooperation, and inject new momentum into regional peace, stability, and shared prosperity.
China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol Signed
Following the 2024 announcement by leaders of China and ASEAN on the substantive conclusion of negotiations on the Version 3.0 China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA), the two sides officially signed the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol on October 28, 2025.
The Protocol introduced forward-looking provisions covering emerging areas such as the digital economy, green economy, supply chain interconnectivity, competition and consumer protection, and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises while comprehensively enhancing openness in traditional areas including trade facilitation and mutual recognition of standards.
This represents the most extensive modernization upgrade to CAFTA since its establishment in 2002. It also stands as a significant milestone in the joint efforts of China and ASEAN to uphold the multilateral trading system and advance regional economic integration toward deeper and more substantive development. The upgraded agreement will provide solid institutional and economic foundations for building a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.
22nd China-ASEAN Expo Held Successfully
From September 17 to 21, 2025, the 22nd China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO) and the China-ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (CABIS) were held in Nanning, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.
Under the theme "Digital Intelligence and Innovation Empower Development — Leveraging ASEAN-China FTA 3.0 new opportunities for an even closer ASEAN-China community with a shared future," the event brought together many high-level participants. Chinese Vice President Han Zheng attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote address. Senior officials from multiple countries and the Secretary-General of ASEAN were also present.
This year's CAEXPO attracted 3,260 enterprises from 60 countries and regions worldwide, with a total of 226,000 visits recorded. The event yielded more than 700 outcomes, including over 500 signed economic and trade cooperation projects, with the total investment value of centrally signed projects reaching an impressive level.
2024-2025 China-ASEAN Year of People-to-People Exchanges Concludes
To expand people-to-people exchange between China and ASEAN, promote mutual understanding among peoples, and build a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future, China and ASEAN jointly designated 2024 and 2025 as the China-ASEAN Year of People-to-People Exchanges.
Over the past two years, China and ASEAN countries have jointly organized more than 160 high-level, high-impact, and widely attended people-to-people exchange activities, achieving the goal of "new activities weekly and new highlights monthly." These initiatives have delivered fruitful outcomes, deepening cultural affinity and mutual understanding among more than 2 billion people across China and ASEAN and generating broad social and economic benefits.
Such activities have laid a solid public and social foundation for deepening the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, implementing the Global Civilization Initiative, and building a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful, and amicable home.
China Advances Regional Biosafety Cooperation
To address emerging risks posed by advances in biotechnology and strengthen regional security safeguards, the 2nd Regional Workshop on Implementing the Biological Weapons Convention and Promoting Biosafety and Biosecurity in Southeast Asia was held in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, from November 18 to 20, 2025. The workshop was co-chaired by China and Malaysia, with support from the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, and brought together representatives from ASEAN countries as well as several major international organizations.
Discussions focused on implementing the Biological Weapons Convention and enhancing national capacities for biosafety governance, which generated a set of concrete outcomes. Participants agreed to include biosafety and biosecurity as a priority in the Plan of Action to Implement the ASEAN-China Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (2026-2030) and endorsed Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines for Codes of Conduct for Scientists proposed by China.
The workshop not only strengthened regional commitment to addressing shared challenges through multilateral approaches, but also marked a new level of mutual trust and cooperation between China and ASEAN in the field of non-traditional security, laying a solid foundation for building a peaceful, secure, and sustainable regional environment.
China and ASEAN Jointly Combat Telecommunication Network Fraud and Online Gambling
In recent years, serious crimes linked to gambling and fraud operations in Myanmar's Myawaddy have occurred frequently, posing grave threats to the personal safety and legitimate interests of Chinese nationals and other international travelers. In early 2025, China, Myanmar, and Thailand established a ministerial-level coordination mechanism to jointly combat telecom and online fraud and have since carried out multiple rounds of coordinated enforcement operations.
In December 2025, law enforcement authorities from the three countries organized a joint task force to conduct combined crackdowns on gambling- and fraud-related facilities. To date, more than 7,600 Chinese criminal suspects have been escorted back to China, and the relevant gambling and fraud parks have been dismantled.
Online gambling and telecom fraud pose a governance challenge for the entire international community. China's bilateral and multilateral law enforcement cooperation with ASEAN countries reflects a high level of political mutual trust, exemplifies equality and mutual assistance in addressing shared security challenges, demonstrates joint efforts to build a peaceful, safe and secure, prosperous, beautiful and amicable home, and represents an important outcome of forging a closer China-ASEAN community with a shared future.
Sports Technology Drives China-ASEAN Cooperation and Innovation in Public Health
The 3rd China-ASEAN International Conferenceon Physical Fitness and Health Promotion was recognized as one of the Top 10 Projects of the 2024-2025 China-ASEAN Year of People-to-People Exchanges, providing a professional platform for the international exchange of technological achievements in public fitness between China and ASEAN countries.
Guided by the principle of win-win cooperation and using sports technology as a lever, the conference fortified the foundations of China-ASEAN collaboration across multiple sectors while expanding the scope of practical cooperation in fitness and health. It set a new benchmark for integration of sports technology between China and ASEAN, with agreements involving institutions in Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam seeking to deepen joint research, expand shared initiatives, and bolster connectivity in the field of sports science and health.
The event also promoted the development of a coordinated industry ecosystem, leveraging Guangxi's strategic position facing ASEAN to actively build an innovation demonstration zone for public health with regional influence and facilitate application of Chinese sports technology achievements in ASEAN countries.
In addition, the launch of CISS NationFit AI, an intelligent end-to-end fitness service model, demonstrated the inclusive potential of AI technology, supporting the expansion of scientific fitness services across ASEAN and assisting in upgrading the public health system toward greater precision and intelligence. These initiatives have highlighted the role of sports in promoting people-to-people exchange and advancing regional collaboration in public health.
2025 ASEAN-China GBA Economic Cooperation (Qianhai) Forum Heralds a New Stage of Regional Cooperation
The 2025 ASEAN-China GBA Economic Cooperation (Qianhai) Forum focused on collaborative innovation in AI and emerging industries, driving the launch of a series of major platforms and the release of landmark achievements. The China-ASEAN Collaborative Innovation Base was officially launched, aiming to establish a cross-regional innovation cooperation network.
Construction also began on the world's first cross-border laboratory dedicated to the ethical governance of AI: the AI Security, Trustworthiness, and Responsibility (AI STR) International Open Laboratory. The forum released the 2025 Greater Bay Area-ASEAN Industrial Cooperation Frontier Report, which systematically outlined cooperation potential in sectors such as the digital economy and green energy and provided recommendations for optimizing the business ecosystem and deepening industrial chain collaboration.
More than 20 major projects were signed on-site, covering areas including artificial intelligence, biopharmaceuticals, and photovoltaic energy, with a total contract value of nearly 40 billion yuan (US$5.73 billion), representing a 32 percent increase compared with the previous forum.